With the last of Final Fantasy 14’s post-Endwalker patch content now behind us, we can take a bit of a breather before Dawntrail shows up this summer. We had a story that explored the Thirteenth quite a bit, a cool return to Final Fantasy 4 characters, and… Fall Guys? Yeah, we had that for a few months, and I’ll admit, I never got that crown.
Some would argue that this is an issue, though—that we can take a breather at all. After all, it’s the reputation and truth that an MMORPG shouldn’t really let up in keeping its player base in the game, forever grinding for something or another. World of Warcraft, the MMO to end all MMOs (figuratively), is most infamous for this, and many games have tried to replicate its success in their endgame systems.
But this time around, many are upset that FFXIV isn’t giving players that figurative endgame hook, and many are dipping from the game (for now) as a result. So what the heck happened this post-expac? Was it all really that bad?
Plenty Of Great Content
To keep it critically fair, I’ll start with the positives, because there were more than enough to call this a solid two years of content.
The “lifestyle” content, as it was described, was actually fairly cute and well-received, minus a few structural oversights that seemed fairly forgiven. A lot of people really adored the Island Sanctuary (and its rewards), and the pet naming went a little wild upon launch. I know roleplayers used the hell out of the instanced systems, too. Lewd? Who knows.
The fight mechanics for raids, dungeons and trials were some of the, if not simply the, best in the game so far, keeping gameplay fresh and interesting. And yes, I do mean for normal content too, though the Savage raids, as far as I was able to get in them, were great, too. Plus, the side quests were delightful, filling in many of the less critical story gaps that some adored.
The creative choices were mostly fantastic, too. We got a lot of cool glamours that didn’t entirely grind against FFXIV’s aesthetic (with some jarring exceptions), plus some upgrades to current fashion systems. The sound team so popped off with the music during these patches, with a fantastic diversity of genres and remakes tackled in the soundtrack.
And we did get some decent new gameplay, in the forms of Variant and Criterion, plus a new Deep Dungeon. The former was a great way to explore lore and the wider world of FFXIV while encouraging players to stay more vigilant about their surroundings—and curious about what the world can do. And a Deep Dungeon is… well, it’s that. We haven’t had a new one since the original, Palace of the Dead years and years ago.
These have all been welcome additions to the playground of FFXIV’s endgame offerings. But if it seems a little more scarce than usual… well, many think it is.
Little Reason To Return
When there were gaps, though, they were massive and literally game-changing. Mainly, there was a gaping lack of “grindable” new content that normally keeps the average players repeatedly returning for content.
Early on, this was sort of an issue for those taking the “Savage”- or even “Ultimate”-level Criterion content, as players didn’t feel they were being rewarded well enough. Thankfully, this was updated for the last iteration of this content, and rewards were improved. But this isn’t generally approachable content, and many players tapped out when they got all the “endings” or the reward they wanted in the “Normal” version.
However, much like Criterion dungeons, that’s accomplishable to a standard point of completion with a little bit of persistence, unless you’re aiming for high-end personal achievements like a solo clear or clearing with multiple classes.
For most players, there wasn’t really much to attach oneself to in regards to grinded content. This was in part what made Stormblood and especially Shadowbringers more bearable to many players—a collaborative, persistent space where one can feel continued accomplishments add up. Even Diadem in Heavensward, as I hear it, was at least… something.
The most outrage centered around the acquisition of the “relic weapon” for this particular expansion, which only required 1500 tokens of the lower current denomination—easily acquirable for those who regularly do roulettes and other content. Most players could simply pick up the weapon at its release, once done with the Manderville quests, making it feel a little too easy. Many argued that at least with the one in Shadowbringers, there was something to work towards (even if it was just meeting others in Antitower fifteen times). And that’s not to mention a lot of people dislike Hildibrand, which is a matter of taste, though I’m going to argue the hatred is somewhat disproportionate. Come on, chill.
More than anything, many players felt like they weren’t able to milk out the value of their subscription like they could in other expansions. Hell, as I understood it, even the Fall Guys collaboration kept many players on for more than some other content.
And I’m not kidding when I say this had consequences. Anecdotally, I noticed that so, so many players that were once dedicated, even as daily players, turned their sights away from FFXIV and hopped around MMORPGs. Frankly speaking, I think that’s fine to a point; director and producer Naoki Yoshida famously said that he encourages players to unsubscribe and play other games if they’re burned out, and I personally have expressed my frustration at big games taking up a ton of time.
The issue here is that it wasn’t just one voice frustrated at this “drought,” but a choir of them in a genre where that shouldn’t be the case. Obviously, there’s always a limit as to how much one can actually do in any game, but an MMORPG should at least be offering substantially more content for those who are burning out on older stuff. It’s like a theme park, as many describe FFXIV already—even Disney World keeps expanding, occasionally at the cost of older attractions.
It’s not that FFXIV players are looking for a reason to be frustrated. I’ve found the opposite, actually—many want to be playing more. While no community nor game is perfect, FFXIV otherwise lives up to its “theme park” reputation, with a decent enough community and a variety of things to do. When the latter falters, so does the former.
Only Up From Here
Here’s the good news, though: This is probably the weakest post-expansion cycle in what’s otherwise a fantastic game, which is to say we could be doing a lot worse. More importantly, it seems like the development team heard the playerbase loud and clear. (Or also slightly likely, they saw the slew of unsubscribed players coming and knew they had to resolve it, not that it makes FFXIV anything less than Square’s biggest financial whale.)
It was mentioned a few times during the Fanfest presentations that certain things were in high demand from the players—especially the open-world “exploratory” content that, again, was popular in Shadowbringers in the form of Bozja. It’ll be making a return in Dawntrail, so the grindy fans have a bit to look forward to.
And plenty more in Dawntrail seems like it came from constructive feedback and examination of the playerbase. We’re going to see more “casual” content in the form of planet-hopping, a new Hildibrand series, massive improvements to the glamour systems, and, of course, the new graphics update.
The promise of more seems to have brought back plenty of players already, at least, looking to catch up before the new expansion drops this summer. There’s plenty of optimism in the community for a far better expansion, especially now that post-COVID workflows look to smooth out.
All of what I said doesn’t mean there’s no content to enjoy, either. There are still widely-beloved pieces of content like Treasure Maps, The Hunt, and, obviously, fishing. The new Moogle Tomestone hunt is pretty cool, too, with rotating duties and rewards (and flooding ocean fishing with new players… which, cool!), and there are always social events as well.
But FFXIV is definitely a game where people are always looking for an excuse to be playing and active, and many just wish they had that excuse this time around.
